Wednesday, July 30, 2008

The Crazy World of Walter Sanning (Part 7)

Sanning claims that the Soviets were the "beneficiaries of an almost unbelievably generous reconstruction assistance" from the Nazis, and that "the allegation of systematic German brutality in Russia is exposed as plain Soviet propaganda". These claims can be shown to be based on a deliberate refusal to read the primary literature on Nazi food policy. For example, Roberto has partially translated and transcribed two key documents on this RODOH thread showing that a Hunger Plan existed before Barbarossa. Roberto summarizes this evidence here.

Anyhow, with a certain amount of understanding for goals aimed at by German politics, dying and deterioration could have been avoided in the extent described. For instance, according to information on hand, the native population within the Soviet Union are absolutely willing to put food at the disposal of the prisoners of war. Several understanding camp commanders have successfully chosen this course. However in the majority of the cases, the camp commanders have forbidden the civilian population to put food at the disposal of the prisoners, and they have rather let them starve to death. Even on the march to the camps, the civilian population was not allowed to give the prisoners of war food. In many cases, when prisoners of war could no longer keep up on the march because of hunger and exhaustion, they were shot before the eyes of the horrified civilian population, and the corpses were left.

Finally, in addition to Roberto's excellent sources, we can also point to the passage in Himmler's Posen speech where he leaves no doubt about Nazi policy:

What happens to a Russian, to a Czech, does not interest me in the slightest. What the nations can offer in the way of good blood of our type, we will take, if necessary by kidnapping their children and raising them here with us. Whether nations live in prosperity or starve to death interests me only in so far as we need them as slaves for our Kultur: otherwise, it is of no interest to me. Whether Russian females fall down from exhaustion while digging an anti-tank ditch interests me only in so far as the anti-tank ditch for Germany is finished (Nuremberg doc. 1919-PS)

Sanning's failure to acknowledge these sources is further proof of his dishonesty as a scholar.